The Willow Glen Resident

WGNA welcomes two new board members

By Cecily Barnes

It was luckless timing. The elections for the Willow Glen Neighborhood Association's board of directors fell on the same night as the mayoral debate in Willow Glen--thus they came and went with little notice.

However, 89 people paused in their thoughts about Gonzales and Dando to fill out ballots for less powerful politicos. When the votes were tallied up, the community's quiet, hard-working neighborhood group had two new board members, Margaret Harding and Patsy Neher.

Kris Cunningham was voted in for a second term as president, with J. Michael Gonzales and Ralph Serpe as her vice presidents. Lynn Repetsky was elected secretary, Harding treasurer and Neher, Tiralisa Kaplow, Larry Ames and John Gibbs as regular board members. June Cooley ran for a seat on the board but was not elected.

The Willow Glen Neighborhood Association exists to maintain the quality of life in Willow Glen by acting as a mediator between city government and Willow Glen residents. In the past year, the group has taken a stance against the full build-out of the San Jose International Airport, late hours at Willow Glen Billiards and Brew (without proper mitigations for the neighbors) and unsafe traffic on Willow Street.

Group members have worked with developers for the new Safeway on Hamilton Avenue, housing on Radio Avenue and many other local projects. Board members are all volunteers.

New board member Margaret Harding has lived in Willow Glen since 1968. She was the second paid employee at the American Musical Theatre, previously called the Civic Light Opera, and is currently serving on the county grand jury. Having recently retired from her lengthy career at the musical theater, Harding decided to give something back to her community.

"One of the advantages of being retired is you get to decide where to give your time," Harding said. "Willow Glen has been good to me and my family, and I felt it was time to give back."

Although Harding says she has no specific agenda for her time on the board, she is an art lover and is looking for local artists with work depicting Willow Glen or the artist's experience of this community. Harding hopes to display this art at the neighborhood association's 25th anniversary party.

Patsy Neher, the other new board member, became involved with the neighborhood association when she organized her neighbors to fight what they consider to be unsafe traffic on Willow Street. Although the city denied Neher's request for a stop sign at Willow and Camino Ramon, she agreed to join the neighborhood association board to continue championing her community.

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